cheetahs season review and the chances of final success,,,

15 Cheetahs v Kings    34-22
14 Cheetahs v Reds    27-13
13 Cheetahs v Hurricanes    34-39
11 Cheetahs v Kings    26-12
10 Cheetahs v Sharks    12-6
9   Cheetahs v Bulls    20-26
8   Cheetahs v Stormers    26-24
7   Cheetahs v Rebels    34-16
6   Cheetahs v Force    19-10
5   Cheetahs v Waratahs    27-26
4   Cheetahs v Highlanders    36-19
3   Cheetahs v Chiefs 3-45
2   Cheetahs v Sharks    22-29

when u breakdown the cheetahs remarkable season, there are some issues whcih make me think the cheetahs wont be the force everyone thinks they are come finals time.

one of the main issues is the luck of the draw, with the every team missing out on one team from the other conferences, cheetahs have hit the jackpot this year by avoiding matches against the brumbies and crusaders, both of which are looking like final contenders.
when looking at the teams the cheetahs have beaten, u will notice that the reds is the only one in the top 6 the cheetahs have beaten, they were givena huge hiding by the chiefs and that was when they had highly acclaimed goose playing for them.
the win against the reds was impressive, but home factor played a role as reds are useless when travelling to SA. having cooper cower out in the back on defnece didnt help either, especially as he failed to stop van zyls but thats a story for another time.

the point is the cheetahs havent quite faced the oppoistion they are most likely to face in the finals, so i have big questions about their ability to leave an impact.
the cheetahs are playing the best rugby in SA (again what hjappened to the 2012 sharks??? o_O), but despite their brand of rugby and the class players in their team, im not sold they will leave a sginficant impact on the finals table, and i dont see them having any answers when the chiefs, crusaders and brumbies come a knocking.

i think the bulls will win the match coming this weekend, but all top 6 teams will be looking forward to it, reds, crusaders, blues will be wanting the bulls to win as that benefits their finals chances, while the brumbies and chiefs will be barracking for the cheetahs as chiefs want to finish on top and the brumbies want to at least finish in the top two.

bright side is the cheetahs can take a lot out of this season,as it is a signifcant improvement from their 10th placing last year which was their previous best since super rugby reintegration, so big ups to drotske.

the waratahs and blues have also been big improvers in 2012, and im expecting the cheetahs, blues and waratahs to have huge a impact in the next few years, maybe even a title.

Sasue

Thanks for the interesting summary.   The one result that was a bit off the normal was the one in the Chiefs game.  In the first half of the game - the Chiefs had a smallish lead at halftime - and as a matter of fact had less ball and territory possession than the Cheetahs.  The steam ran out in the last 20 minutes of that game - when the effects of jet lag decimated the Cheetah's performance and allows the Chiefs to run in a number of tries.

Insofar as the Cheetahs is concerned - I do hope that they beat the Bulls.  That may wake up Meyer that his favoured Blue Bulls selections - which will dominate the Springbok squad - are not what he deems them to be.

It may just show Meyer  that outside of the Bulls team there are other players in South Africa who are  better than his Blue Bulls  preferences and he may just wake up to that fact.   I say may - because the man is an idiot.       

 The Cheetahs would've been able to beat the Brumbies this yet but I doubt the Crusaders, maybe at home but definitely not at Christchurch.

@shezza,

i dont agree, but that theory has a very real chance of being tested come finals time, so we will wait and see.

@mikey,
even though the cheetahs are my favourite saffa team, i always prefer results that favour NZ teams and as i mentioned above certain NZ (and others) teams benefit from either the bulls or cheetahs winning, but im this case im hoping the cheetahs win too, as this will help cement the chiefs position on top of the ladder.
home finals advantage is a big deal, and the bulls at loftus is one team i think have a very real chance of winning the spXV, same with the reds.
i dont get that same feeling from the brumbies though, IMO both the chiefs and crusaders can beat the brumbies in canberra, crusaders already gave them a hiding there this year, but reds at suncorp and bulls at loftus, thats a pretty big mountain to climp for any team and when the loftus faithful come out in numbers, its enough to send shivers down ur soine, LMAO, :oP